Passport control officers to get uniforms in Reid reforms

Passport control officers are to be put in uniform and some of the immigration service's enforcement operations farmed out to private security firms, the home secretary, John Reid, will say tomorrow.

The moves are part of a radical package to restore public confidence in the operations of the much criticised immigration and nationality directorate in the wake of the sacking of his predecessor, Charles Clarke. It is the third major package of reform announced by Mr Reid in the past week in a programme dubbed the "Reidathon" by cabinet colleagues. The home secretary will also announce he is to double the £140m immigration enforcement budget within three years to £280m by 2010.

Most of the extra cash will go on staff to double the number of enforcement operations, but Home Office sources say ministers are also exploring the options for commissioning, contracting out and outsourcing some of this work.

The decision to put frontline immigration staff into uniform at Britain's ports and airports is designed to ensure the service becomes more visible to the public and to act as a deterrent to illegal migrants trying to enter the country.

It is expected that immigration enforcement staff will be put into uniform as well as frontline passport control staff. What they will look like has not been decided but immigration staff at posts overseas will also be expected to wear them.

"There has been a 72% reduction in the number of people who are seeking asylum in this country ... but I intend to do more. I want to strengthen the resources for border enforcement. We need more forceful and more visible border enforcement," Mr Reid told GMTV yesterday.

Home Office sources yesterday denied that the move to a uniformed immigration service meant that ministers had dropped their long-standing opposition to the creation of a dedicated border control force involving the police, immigration, special branch and customs.

The details of Mr Reid's immigration package emerged as MPs on the Commons home affairs select committee strongly criticised the poor quality of decisions in individual immigration cases and called for a profound cultural change in the way that immigration is tackled in Britain.

John Denham, the chairman of the home affairs committee, welcomed the extra money but said: "The real weakness at the moment is that there is no way of ensuring that when somebody is told that they should leave the country, that their departure follows very quickly. John Reid's got the money - he now needs to spend it at the right part of the system, that is as soon as people lose their right to be in the country."

Tim Finch of the Refugee Council said the extra money would be better spent on training asylum case workers to make better decisions the first time round.